Centrifugal machine.



Patented Allg. I4, |900. W. MCG. SMITH. CENTRIFUGAL MAGHINE.

(Application filed Oct. 22,"1B9B.)

5 Sheets-Sheet (No Model.)

mii-mms PETERS no.. PHoTcLLlfuo.. wAsmNcTnN. n4 c.

No. 656,055. Patented Aug. I4, |900. W. McG. SMITH.

CENTRIFUGAL MACHINE.

(Application led Oct. 22, 189B.)

5 Sheets-Sheet 2,

(Nn Model.)

m: Nonms PETERS no., PHOTO-umu.. wAsHlNGYoN. D. c,

No. 656,055, Patented Aug. I4, |900.

w. Me. sM-ITH. CENTRIFUGAL MACHINE.

(Application filed Oct.. 22, 1898.)

N0 Model.) :ashun-shewK a'.

s rk H- M 'Jl-mi? TN: Nonms PETERS co, PHoTo-Lmgo.. WASHINGTON. b. c,

Patented Aug'. I4, |900.

w. mcs. SMITH., cENTmFuGAL MACHINE.

(Application led Oct. 22, 1898.)

5 Sheets-Sheet 4,

N5. 555,055. Patented Aug. 14,1900. f

. A w. MGG. SMITH.

CENTRIFUGAL MACHINE.

(Application led Oct. 22, 1898.) (No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 5.

,mums PETERS co.. rHuToLmw.. WASHINGTON. a. c,

WILLIAM MCG. SMITH, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

CENTRIFU'GAL MACHIN.

SPECIFICATION forming partei Letters Patent No.'e'5e,o55,' dated August 14, 1906.

Application filed October 22, 1898. Serial No. 694,317. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concer-n:

Beit known that I, WILLIAM MCGREGOR SMITH, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at London, England, h ave invented certain new and useful improvements in apparatus for treating ramie, china-grass, and other vegetable bers, also applicable for the drying of grain and other articles or materials, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, and for which I have made application for British Patent No. 7, 690, dated March 30, 1898. Y

Ramis ber after being degummed or after being bleached is at present usually put into a centrifugal machine in which a portion of the moisture contained in it is removed, and it is afterward placed in a drying-stove to be completely dried. Other vegetable bers and grains are in like manner partially dried in centrifugal machines and afterward com-Y pletely dried in drying-stoves or in the open air.

I will describe my invention in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is an elevation, and Fig. 2 a plan, of one arrangement of apparatus such as I employ in carrying my invention into effect. Fig. 3 is an elevation, and Fig. 4a' plan, of similar apparatus to the above, but with a heater for superheating the steam or heating the air, &c. Fig. 5 is a vertical section of the centrifugal machine separately; and Fig. 6 is a side elevation, and Fig. 7 an end elevation, of the heater separately. Fig. 8 is a sectional detail View, on a larger scale, showing l the separation of the true and false bottoms.

Fig. 9 is a sectional detail view, on a larger scale, showing the cover bolts or studs.

In all the gures like parts are indicated by similar letters of reference. v

With my improved apparatus the treatment of ramie and other vegetable ber and grain results in effecting a larger proportionl or the whole ofthe drying'in a centrifugal machine by treating them While in the machine, with steam, the effectofsuch treatment being at once to soften and to brighten the ber and to dry the grain.

For the sake of clearness I will speak in describing this invention of the treatment of ramie ber only; but it will be understood of the driving-engine b. vthis end, the exhaust-pip'efof the engine communicates with a steam-receiver g, arranged that similar treatment is applicable also to 1various kinds of vegetable ber, grain, and

spent grains and many other substances and articles.

Centrifugal machines, s uch as a, used for drying ber are frequently driven from an enginev l), having a vertical crank-shaft c, on which is Vfixed a pulley d, motion being conveyed from the engine Z) to the centrifugal machine a by means of a belt e, communi- 'cating'the motion tothe centrifugal machine by means of aV pulley a2, fixed upon the spindle'ct of the centrifugal itself.

The steam desired for the treatment of the ber in the centrifugal machine may conveniently be obtainedfrom the exhaust-steam In order to effect in any well-.known manner, so as to detain fany Water, grease, and other dirt passing per part and prevent the free escape of the steam. The pipe g is tted with a valve g2 to enable the ste'amto be cut off when not relquired.

The cover a4 is so arranged that it canl easily be lifted for the putting in of the material and for its removal. A fixture a5 is lsecured upon and movable with the cover 0,4

and extends over the chamber a3 and is so arranged that when the cover is closed a passage is provided through which the steam can pass to the center of the cover, where it en-.

ters a projecting pipe a6, descending into the perforated or foraminous basket a7 of the centrifugal machine. The arrangement of the various parts is such that a fairly-close joint is made, so that little or no steam escapes, but the whole or almost the whole of the steam passes through the central pipe a6 into the revolving basket a7 of the machine.

In Fig. 5 IA have shown the cover a4 of the centrifugal machine hinged at a to the body of the machine and adapted to be correctly fixed or adjusted in position on the casing a and the chamber a3 by bolts or studs cl2, secured to and carried by the cover a4 and its attached fixture as, engaging corresponding recesses in the upper edge of the chamber a3. (See details, Fig. 9.) I have also shown the top of the centrifugal basketa7 removable and capable of being fixed or secured in place on the basket a7 by sliding bolts cl3, arranged in suitable guides on the top or cover, engaging openings in lugs (L15 on the body of the basket a7.

d is a counterbalance carried by the cover a4.

CL16 is a drip-pipe for the water of condensation, and a isa pipe leading to the exhaust, as usual.

The steam, as described, enters the basket a7 of the machine in a downward direction, so that any moisture which it may contain is thrown downward, and within the machine I provide a loose dome a8, slightly conical in form, projecting upward to the level of the top of the basket a7 or thereabout, open at its upper end and provided at its lower part with a plate a9, which forms a false bottom supported at the bottom of the basket a7, but prevented from touchingit by bars or rods am, (see details, Fig. 8,) which preserve a short distance between the false bottom of and the true bottom of the revolving basket. Any water thrown downward by the steam or condensing upon the dome as is accordingly guided below this false bottom a and passes out through the side of the basket opposite the space between the true and false bottoms without passing through the ber in themachine. The steam, however, rising above and out of the dome a8 can pass into the basket a7 and come into contact with the fiber, so that the fiber while undergoing the operation in the centrifugal machine is in an atmosphere of steam. The effect of this is to render the fiber hot and to cause it more freely to part with moisture, while at the conclusion of the operation the heat remaining in the fiber is sufiicient to evaporate a portion or the whole of the moisture which may still remain combined with the fiber. At the same time the action of the steam upon the fiber softens it and renders it more pliant and brighter in appearance; but in the case of grains the apparatus is only used for drying the same.

In some cases, in order more thoroughly to dry the fiber contained in the centrifugal machine, I introduce a superheater zy (see Figs. 3, 4, 6, and 7) between the steam-receiver already described and the point at which the steam enters the centrifugal machine. The superheater h may be somewhat similar in construction to an arrangement of surface condenser as used in some condensing-engines, the superheating being effected either by passing the steam through tubes which on the outside are heated by steam at a higher pressure or by passing the steam around tubes which on the inside are heated by steam at ahigher pressure. This superheated steam coming in contact with the fiber containing moisture will evaporate a portion of the moislture and so dry the fiber.

In some cases I may use an apparatus similar to the above for heating air, which may be made to follow the application of steam. The same apparatus may indeed be used first for superheating steam to be used in the centrifugal machine, and afterward, the superheating of the steam having been stopped and the passage of steam from the receiver into the centrifugal machine having also been stopped, (arrangements being made so that the steam can escape into the atmosphere,) for heating the air, and in some cases the air may be forced through this apparatus and into the machine by a fan or by other means for producing an artificial flow of air. This combined arrangement for supplying either superheated steam or hot air to the centrifugal machine is illustrated in Figs. 3, i, 6, and 7. In this case the superheater his connected with the steam-receiver g by a pipe h', provided with a valve 71,2, and with a fan 'L' by a pipe h3, provided with a valve h", while the steam-receiver g is also connected directly with the fixing or small chamber c3 by a pipe g', as before described. The fan 'i is driven from the engine by means of pulley d on engine-shaft, beltj, and pulley z" on fan-shaft.

)Vhen heated air is forced into a centrifugal machine for the purpose of completing the drying, I usually make the dome somewhat lower than the top of the centrifugal basket, and I make the top rim of the basket of such a width as to extend inward considerably beyond the position of the dome. It is necessary in this case to make the top rim of the basket removable, as otherwise it would be difficult to introduce fiber into the machine and remove it therefrom. It is also often convenient in other cases to make the top rim removable, as otherwise the space between it and the dome is not sufficient to enable the fiber to be easily introduced and removed.

IOO

IIO

If desired, steam may be conveyed direct from a steam-engine to the steam-receiver.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In centrifugal apparatus, the combination of a casing, a small chamber attached to one side of said casing, a steam-pipe leading into said chamber, a hinged cover for the casing, a fixture on said cover forming a passage for the steam from the small chamber to the center of the cover, means for positioning said cover and fixture on the casing and chamber, and an exhaust-pipe attached to the casing, substantially as set forth.

2. In centrifugal apparatus, the combination of a casing, a hinged cover for said casing, means for positioning said cover on the casing, a downwardly-projecting pipe carried by said cover, a perforated basket arranged in the casing, a removable top for said basket, a loose dome in said basket, and a plate attached to said dome forming a false bottom for said basket, substantially as set forth.

3. In centrifugal apparatus, the combination of a casing, a small chamber attached to said casing, a steam-pipe leading into said chamber, a hinged cover for the casing, a counterbalance attached to said cover, a xture on said cover forming a steam-passage between said casing and chamber, means for positioning the cover and fixture on the casing and chamber, a downwardly-projecting pipe carried by said cover, a perforated basket arranged in said casing, a removable top for said basket, means for locking the top to the basket, an opening in the said top, a loose dome in said basket, an opening in the top of the dome for said downwardly-projecting pipe, a plate attached to said dome forming a false bottom to the basket, and a steam-ex# haust pipe attached to the casing, substantially as set forth.

4. In centrifugal apparatus, the combinae tion of a casing, a small chamber attached to said casing, a steam-pipe leading into said small chamber, a hinged cover for the casing, a fixture on said cover forming a steam-passage between said casing and chamber, means for positioning said cover and fixture on the casing and chamber, a downwardly-projecting pipe carried by said cover, a perforated basket arranged `in said casing, a loose dome in said basket, a plate attached to said dome forming a false bottom, bars for said plate to rest upon, and an exhaust-pipe for the steam, attached to the casing, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I afx my signature in presence of two witnesses.

W. MOG. SMITH.

Witnesses:

B. J. B. MILLS, CLAUDE K. MILLS. 

